It’s Official!

As many of you know, October 22, 2013 I was diagnosed with Stage 1 Papillary Thyroid Cancer. To say it was life altering is an understatement. One never really knows just how much such a thing will really and truly alter life as they know it until it becomes a hard and fast reality.

Several people told me I was lucky. Thyroid Cancer was easily dealt with; no trouble at all. Are you kidding me?! It was so frustrating hearing those words. Clearly they were simply ignorant to the disease because there was no way someone would say those words if they had any knowledge of it.

I’m the first one to count my blessings – every day. But to say I was lucky? No. Lucky isn’t being told at 28 years old that you have cancer. Lucky isn’t being told several weeks later that it may have spread. I’m thankful that my ENT/Surgeon was diligent and was watching a non-cancerous lump ever so closely. His watchful eye and my aversion to unnecessary surgery are the ONLY reasons why the cancer was found so early. So every day I continue to be extremely thankful; I still don’t consider myself lucky.

So immediate surgeries were placed both times (I had two) and the problem was solved. Or so was the assumption.

Instead, that Tuesday afternoon, changed my life forever. I will be watched for a minimum of 20 years. Not 5 as many others because of the high chance of reoccurrence. I will have to take hormone replacement medication every day for the rest of my life, get poked regularly by our wonderful neighbourhood blood clinic (they truly are wonderful!), attend regular scheduled ultrasounds, 3 visits per year to various specialists and daily adaptations to the changes this has added to my life.

And with every scan my anxiety will grow immeasurably. I will be physically ill waiting for the results. Praying it remains clear. Praying I can just continue living my life as normally as one can.

And on days like today I’ll continue to celebrate just like I did the very first day I was told I was free from the hell I had been living.

Because today my Endocrinologist told me I was OFFICIALLY one year cancer free.

So I gave my amazing fiancé a huge kiss, turned the music up and sang – smiling ear to ear as I floated. Weightlessly loving my life. Thankful once again for the constant poking and prodding and the awesome doctors that I’ve been so incredibly blessed to have been given.